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View of Worcester from Eastern Ave. by Bruce Mitchell

View of Worcester from Eastern Ave.
Oil on canvas      
1984
26" x 48"
Eric Glass collection.
[Detail 1] - [Detail 2]

This painting was commissioned by Eric Glass in 1983, and completed in late 1984. It took about 18 months. It depicts downtown Worcester, Massachusetts as seen from Eastern Ave. This photograph of the painting isn't a very good one, but it's the only one I have. It's a little washed out in the middle and the darkness on the right side of the painting is from bad lighting, not in the actual painting. The tall building on the left side was at that time known as the Mechanics Bank tower (note the big M). To the left of it is the Peoples Bank building, and in front of that is the glass top of what was then the Worcester Center Galleria. This shopping mall with its office buildings and huge parking garage (then the largest indoor parking facility in the U.S.) opened in 1971. I have fond memories of playing Pong at the Dream Machine arcade there. Both of the banks have long since been sold off, and the mall is scheduled for demolition. The spire in the center of the painting is City Hall, of course. The tall glass tower on the right side was then the Worcester County National Bank building. I believe Fleet Bank now owns that building. The large, low building in grey that extends across the middle foreground is one end of the parking garage - you can see sets of lights and some cars on its roof. The orange and white building to the right of that was then known as the Centrum (currently called DCU Center). The road in the foreground is Interstate 290. The large flat-roofed building on the other side of it that stretches across the right side of the painting is the main U.S. Post Office, on Summer Street.

This particular view of the city of Worcester is no longer available. A massive complex of buildings known as "Medical City," built in the '90s, now blocks the view most of the buildings seen in the painting.

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Copyright © Bruce G. Mitchell